Albi could still be field of dreams

There’s an old philosophical question about a tree falling in a forest.

A year and a half ago, I learned the answer.

The tree was Mayor Jim West’s proposal to sell Albi Stadium. The forest was city politics. The crash was swallowed by a lake of red ink.

So, in May of 2004, when I wrote the city shouldn’t sell the old place, hardly anyone heard. A couple of e-mails. A comment at a baseball game. Little else.

But now the sound has traveled like the Doppler effect.

The closer the city got to a decision, the faster the criticism moved. And piled up.

Last month the Spokane City Council decided Albi Stadium is too important to the Lilac City to put it on the block. By a 6-1 vote, the Council told Mayor West no. Keep the place.

So now there is only one question to ask.

What’s next?

Because Albi can’t stay the way it is.

For years the city has treated it like an unwanted relative – ignored and neglected.

Sure, there was a short period when the city partnered with Brett Sports and the old fella was given a facelift. But since then – and especially since the city deeded control of the Convention Center to the Public Facilities District, overseers of the Spokane Arena – Albi has been wasting away.

The scoreboard has been in-and-out the past two years. The Spokane Shadow played a game this season without lights in either corner. The locker rooms are, to be kind, run-down.

And there is the turf. It needs to be replaced, if not next this spring – as recommended in a recent appraisal of its long-term viability – then in the near future – as a second review the city is seeking may show.

It’s an easy thing to say you want to keep Albi, it’s a much tougher one to actually make it sparkle again. And more expensive.

When the city and the PFD made the Convention Center deal, Albi should have been part of it. At the time, the people who took care of Albi also worked at the Opera House and Convention Center. There was an economy of scale at work.

If the PFD had taken over Albi, the area’s two largest publicly owned sports facilities would have been part of the same family, with the same excellent team in charge of both.

But that didn’t happen. The city has been trying to maintain Albi as inexpensively as possible ever since. Despite the best efforts of the people given the job, it’s a losing battle.

So what’s next?

Councilman Joe Shogan is leading a committee charged with outlining Albi’s future. His committee held its first meeting last Friday.

What the committee needs to do – and do quickly – is identify what the Albi complex – not just the stadium, but the proposed, and funded, surrounding sports facilities – needs.

Of course, I have suggestions.

New turf is a given. A Sprinturf or Field Turf field would cost less than $1 million, probably around $800,000 if recent local field costs are any guide.

Remodeled locker rooms are a must. Allow teams a place to shower and dress after competitions that isn’t dilapidated.

Repaired lights and scoreboard. Upgraded concessions. A paved parking lot. An upgraded press box. All things that need to be done.

Think big. Think the next 50 years.

Plan to cede control of Albi to the PFD or the Parks Department. Give it home with a government entity that has some experience with like facilities or one that is controlling the rest of the complex.

Then ask the voters to pass a bond issue to pay for the $5 to $10 million in improvements and changes.

Let them know the $3.6 million the Spokane Parks Department has in the bank for the surrounding – and already designed – sports complex will be spent. Assure them the voters’ will, as expressed by a 4-to-1 margin in 1999, will be honored.

Tell them this new bond issue will be for stadium improvements.

And then make sure you budget the money each year to maintain the place, to keep the old fella looking good for the next 50 years.

As it deserves.